Consumers growing demand for brand citizenship
As we welcome in summer, consumer spending is set to surge with each consumer expected to spend more than we’ve witnessed over past decades. With this increased level of spending, however, those same consumers are now demanding more from brands as so-called ‘brand citizenship’ becomes of increased importance to them.
Brand citizenship is a holistic approach to fully delivering on a brand promise. These promises may be regarding sustainability in their manufacturing process, support of their staff or customer service. One example of such promises can be found in Lush, a cosmetics retailer who’s marketing focuses heavily on their ethical buying of ingredients and continued fight against animal testing.
More so than ever before, however, consumers are impassioned by the customer service provided by the companies they choose to purchase goods and services from. This has put increased pressure on businesses, particularly in the 24/7 world of social media and email. Two additional channels that consumers now expect support to be provided through.
The only way brands and businesses can manage such expectations and therefore deliver on their promise is to have a customer service infrastructure in place. This infrastructure has a clear process at its heart and is then surrounded by tools and technologies which allow that process to be followed with ease and consistency. It is, however, at this stage that many fail and therefore allow their customers to slip away.
In this article we’ll be exploring how your business can build that customer service infrastructure and the various elements that it encompasses. All of which will allow you to ensure your business is prepared for any eventuality and that its customers receive the level of service that they have come to expect and demand.
It All Starts with a Call
Ever since Alexander Graham Bell first revealed the telephone in 1876, consumers have been turning to the phone to buy products and receive help from the businesses whose products they already use. Whilst more consumers are now turning to modern channels, such as social media and email, it remains that the first channel they will use is the telephone.
Therefore, a vital element of your infrastructure is your businesses telephone system. It is through this system that your team will often carry out internal communication as well as provide customer support. Making it vital that your office phone system can handle the demand and is scalable.
When choosing your businesses telephone system, therefore, you must ensure that your chosen provider is capable of handling the level of internal and external calls necessary. Additionally, the technology used within that system, such as VoIP phone service, must be able to scale as your team and customers do.
Social Media and Email Are No Longer a Choice
A decade ago both social media and email existed. They were, however, not as essential to customer service as they are in 2016. Therefore, any businesses customer service infrastructure must now consider the ongoing monitoring of such channels.
In order to do so, those businesses may be required to invest into monitoring technology and employ those who specialise in such platforms. This is particularly the case for social media support. This may appear a strain on resources, but as both channels continue to take over from telephone they will become increasingly important to provide the level of customer service consumers now demand.
An Integrated CRM
With your businesses telephone system, social media profiles and email now funneling customer queries into your company, you need a centralised spot for all of this to be congregated. This may be a client relationship management platform such as Salesforce, Insightly or Zoho.
Whatever CRM you choose to use, it’s vital that it comes with the necessary level of support. Additionally, similarly to your telephone system it must be scalable and able to meet the demands of your future employees and customers.
Once you’ve combined your telephone system, social media profiles, email and CRM; you’ll be left with a customer service infrastructure that will help your business grow for years to come. That is assuming you’ve also outlined in-depth processes to be followed by your entire workforce.
For more information on the Phone System Maintenance that Opus provides please click here or call us on 0800 316 7566.
